Comber stop-motion.



F. L. CROCKETT.

COMBER STOP MOTION.

nPPucATlou FILED JUNE 22,1915.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT FRANK L. CROCKETT, OF WHITIN-SVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE VII- ITIN- MACHINE WORKS, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATIGN OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

COMBER STOP-MOTION.

Patented Dec. 1'7, 1918..

Application filed June 22, 1915. Serial No. 35,567.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Cnooxn'r'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Whitinsville, in the county of Worcester and State. of Massachusetts, have invented the following-described Improvements in Comber Stop-Motions.

The invention concerns provisions for safe-guarding cotton combers and other teX- tile machines against injury from accumulation of textile material lapping on the rollers thereof, and is illustrated herein as applied to the feed rolls of so called Heilmann type cotton combers. The object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective stop motion of compact form and suitable for application to the comber feed roll, in the space available in standard constructions of these machines, but it will be observed that the same principle may be employed with other textile working machines wherein the roll shaft is subject to obstruction by the lapping of the material thereon.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown the preferred form of my invention applied to the feed roll of a cotton comber, as above stated,

Figure 1 being a top plan of one end of the feed roll shaft and immediately related parts;

Fig. 2 a cross section on line IIII; and

Fig. 3 a longitudinal section, with diagram.

The reference numeral 1 represents the frame uprights of the drive-head of a cotton comber, the comb cylinder shaft 2 being shown broken off, other adjacent parts being removed, for convenience of illustration. The feed roll shaft journaled in one of the said uprights is designated 3, and will be understood to be the usual feed roll shaft extending from the drive-head at one end of the comber through all of the several heads thereof, being equipped with flutes 4 in each head, constituting the rollers proper, whereby the cotton lap is fed to a nipper mechanism. The end of the shaft which terminates within the drive-head of the comber, is equipped with a driving spurgear 5 in mesh with a driving pinion 6 on a short counter-shaft 7. The latter is carried in a bracket 8 adjustably secured to the frame upright 1, and at its opposite end carries a star-wheel 9, whereby it is inter mittently rotated by the comb cvlinder shaft 2. This arrangement of feed-roll parts is common in the art and will be understood without further description. The driving gear 5 is secured to the feed roll shaft through a slip clutch connection, constituted in the present case by the face of the gear itself and the proximate face of a collar 10. The latter is securely fastened to the feed roll shaft by a set screw, or otherwise, and the gear 5 is provided with a long hub 11. and adapted to move axially of the shaft, being held against the face of the fixed collar 10 by the pressure of a spring 12, exerted against the end of its h b 11. spring surrounds the feed roll shaft and is inclosed by a sleeve or housing 13, having telescopic connection with the hub 11, so as to inclose and protect the spring from lint and dirt. The other end of the sleeve constitutes the opposing abutment for the spring and the position of said abutment is subject to adjustment lengthwise of the shaft by means of a second fixed collar 14, set-screwed firmly to the shaft.

The nuts 15, screwed to the end of the housing 13, constitute an adjustable abutment for said housing against the fixed collar l-l, the second nut being a lock nut for the other, as indicated. The collar lf and the nuts 15 thus both constitute means whereby the spring pressure on the sliding gear 5 may be varied as required.

The proximate faces of the gear 5 and the fixed collar 10, constituting the members of the slip clutch connection, as already stated. are mutually cam-faced, as by means of a series of V-shaped or undulating teeth on each member intermeshing with a similar series on the other member. With this arrangement it will be observed that the pressure of the spring 12 maintains the two members of the clutch in interlocking and non-rotative engagement with each other for the transmission of the driving power from the pinion 6 to the feed roll shaft and that the tension of that spring will permit such rotation to continue only so long the resistance encountered does not exceed the resistance t slippage afforded by the spring engagement of the clutch members. When the cotton lap or other textile mate rial winds and bunches on the feed roll, the resistance to rotation of the latter is in creased either as a result of the distortion of the roll shaft or of the engagement of the bunched material with some adjacent This part, and, depending upon the tension of the spring 12, will cause the clutch members to slip, one upon the other. Thereby, one of the clutch members, in the present case the gear 5, will become displaced in an axial direction, due to the cam face engagement, and by an amount equal to the height of the V-shaped projections or cams, or slightly less. Such displacement of the said gear is sufficient to move the same into engagement with the fixed finger 16, secured by means of a block of insulation 17 to the frame upright 1, and constituting one of the terminals of the electric circuit 18 ofJthe throw-off mechanism 19. This throw-off mechanism is shown in'diagram only in Fig. 3, inasmuch as it is a common part of a cotton comber nd is well understood by those skilled in this art. Moreover, the particular construction of the throw-off mechanism is of no consequence to the present invention and the finger 16 may be regarded as any control finger adapted upon its engagement by the displaced gear wheel 5, to stop the machine, or to bring about the operation of agencies which will turn off the power.

In the case of the electrical throw-off mechanism, however, it will be observed that the electrical contact between the finger l6 and the gear is reliably made becauseof the rubbing contact these parts have upon each other at the moment of closing the circuit, which removes any film of oil or grease which might otherwise serve as an insulating medium between these two parts. It

will be understood, of course, that the other terminal of the circuit is grounded to the framework of the machine in the usual manner, and it will also .be understood that where an electrical throw-off mechanism is employed, it may operate either by the closing or opening of the circuit.

It will be further evident to those skilled in this art, that the location of the springpressed clutch members upon and concentrically to the feed roll shaft within the drivehead of the comber, can be accomplished without encroachment on the space required by other adjacent parts and such concentric arrangement of the said members is therefore an important feature of the present invention. It will also be understood that while I have shown the invention in its preferred form, it is nevertheless subject to embodiment in different forms, as provided by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A stop, motion for textile machines,

comprising in combination with a roll shaft engaged with the textile material and'sub-" ject to obstruction by the lapping of the material thereon, of a separable slip clutch driving connection for said shaft, comprising a member displaced by the slipping of the clutch, a second member engaged by said displaced member and means where- V the other, a part mounted on the machine for engagement by: said displaced member and means whereby such engagement stops the machine.

3. A stop motion for textile machines, comprising in combination with a roll shaft engaged with the textile material, of a slipclutch driving connection therefor, the members whereof are in cam-faced engagement with'each other, a spring urging said members toward each other, inclosing meansfor said spring providing an adjustable abutment therefor, a fixed member adapted to be engaged by the displaced member of the clutch, and means whereby said engagement stops the machine.

' 4. A stop motion for textile machines, comprising in combination with a rotary shaft, two clutch members mounted concentrically with said shaft, one of said members being secured to the shaft to rotate therewith and the other being adapted for axial displacement with respect to the shaft upon abnormal resistance to rotation of the latter, a spring urging said displaceable member into engagement with the other member, a fixed finger adaptedto beengaged by said displaceable member, and means whereby such engagement stops the machine.

5. A stop motion for the feed rolls of combers comprising in combination with a rotary shaft a slip-clutch driving connec tion concentrically mounted with respect to said shaft and comprising driving anddriven members, one of which is subject to displacement axially of the shaft upon the slippage ofthe clutch, a fixed part engaged by said member, and means whereby such engagement stops the comber. V

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.-

- FRANK L. CROCKETT. Witnesses:

CHARLES A. ALLEN, 1 Oscar L. OWEN.

' Copies otthis patent may beobtained'for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

